Muhammad Omar Farooq is a retired secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs and former chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.[1][2] He had served under Lutfozzaman Babar, Minister of Home Affairs.[3]
Career
editIn 2003 and 2004, Farooq was the secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs.[4][5] He retired in March 2005.[6] He was regarded as being close to Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami who allowed the party to infiltrate the security establishment of the country.[7] Bangladesh saw a proliferation of terrorist activities and attacks on religious minorities with him at the helm of the Ministry of Home Affairs.[7] He called for closer cooperation between the border forces of Bangladesh and India at the same time rejecting joint patrols.[8]
On 31 March 2005, Farooq was appointed the chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.[9] On 21 March 2006, he ordered cellphone operators to keep records of all text messages.[10] He ordered private landline companies to submitted information on their clients including photos part of a 2005 amendment to the Bangladesh Telecommunications Act, 2001 which allows law enforcement agencies to record phone calls without warrants.[11] He pushed through the approval of Warid Telecom to enter Bangladesh telecom market, violating rules in an attempt to the Prime Minister's Office and the royal family of Dubai who owned the company.[12] His decision to allow landline operators to use SIM cards for limited mobility device was controversial and protested by mobile operators.[13]
President Iajuddin Ahmed fired Farooq and other commissioners of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission on 19 November 2006 but that did not go through due to technicalities.[13] Farooq resigned on 7 March 2007 from the post of the chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.[6]
References
edit- ^ "Regional cellphone summit opens targeting market expansion". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
- ^ "South Asia pair 'seized in Iraq'". 2004-10-29. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
- ^ "Accord with China on public security coop in February". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
- ^ "'Enforce law strictly to stop acid violence'". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
- ^ "Govt, UNDP to assess police needs". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
- ^ a b "BTRC chairman resigns". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
- ^ a b "'Bangladesh sees rising Islamic movement with al-Qaeda link'". The Daily Star. The Washington Post. 4 August 2006. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
- ^ Hossain, Farid (17 September 2004). "Dhaka ice cracks, only just". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
- ^ "Previous Comissioners". Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
- ^ "The week in re(ar)view". www.thedailystar.net. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
- ^ Mahmud, Monjur (21 February 2006). "Pvt land phone operators asked to start service in 6 months". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
- ^ Khan, Abu Saeed (1 July 2006). "BTRC messes up mobile licence for operator". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
- ^ a b "BTRC chairman quits early". Bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2024-09-11.